Retail and tourism-related businesses in Chatham, Bryan and Effingham counties cut a combined 700 employees in September, according to Georgia Department of Labor estimates. The drops, largely in seasonal positions, contributed to a net loss of 500 jobs for the month.

However, the labor department revised its August numbers, with the local credited with an additional 200 jobs. The 154,500 local jobs in August ranks as the highest total since December 2008.

Overall, Savannah-area employers have added 3,400 jobs since March and 3,600 positions since September 2011.

Savannah’s unemployment rate declined to its lowest point this year at 8.0 percent, down six-tenths of a percentage point from August’s rate.

The rate’s decline is tied to employable Savannahians returning to school, a trend reflected around the state. Georgia’s unemployment rate fell from 9.2 percent in August to 9.0 in September.

“The unemployment rate dropped in September because Georgia had the fewest new claims for unemployment insurance benefits in five years, since before the start of the Great Recession,” said Mark Butler, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Labor.

Savannah’s government sector added jobs in September. Local governments hired an estimated 300 new workers in the month. The transportation, warehousing and utilities sector was the only other industry to add jobs in September.